Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide uses a digital still camera to take a photo of himself during a spacewalk.

A century from now, there may be departments of "Selfie Studies" at our universities. This is how revealing these documents are, the quickly snapped self portraits we create with smartphones and share with the world as if it were a fundamental human right.

Where does the impulse to take smartphone photos of ourselves at Nazi death camps and at moments of tragedy and death come from? What might a 22nd-century scholar learn about our 21st-century ways by perusing these ubiquitous, compulsive photographs?

Much has been written on the subject of late. Jerry Saltz, art critic for New York Magazine, has written a sage and brief history of the selfie. He is at his best, I think, when he makes these kinds of observations about the culture at large. And D. Watkins wrote a provocative piece for Salon with the headline "Too Poor for Pop Culture" and a subhead that read: "Where I live in East Baltimore, everything looks like 'The Wire' and nobody cares what a 'selfie' is."

For me, I see in the selfie yet another way that the culture at large is adopting the tools and instincts of fine artists. So many of us are makers now, creating images and little films and words that we exhibit before the world via the Internet.

It's no coincidence that art students studying photography, drawing or painting will often get their artistic bearings by creating portraits of themselves. You have a willing and available subject, for one thing. It's also a way to explore the human face, light, composition — and one's identity. This is rich territory for the would-be artist, and I see a lot of that kind of discovery happening in the universe of selfies.

If this period of raucous selfie discovery is to advance, though, we may need some better tools. This week, a product crossed my desk called the HISY (pronounced High-See) that might be part of that advance. At about the size of a piece of peppermint candy, this little white device seems like it could be a game changer for the world of selfies, and certainly its dominant aesthetic, which includes awkward angles and outstretched, camera-balancing human arms.

The HISY is a remote for the camera shutter on your iPhone or iPad, like a 21st-century update on the cable release. I connected it with three simple taps of my phone via Bluetooth and was taking pictures of myself in my pajamas (which I will spare you from) up close and from across the room in just a few minutes. You don't need to download an app or be connected to the Internet. Just connect and snap away. Change your device to the video setting, and you can start and stop video, too.

So far, the device only works with Apple products that can support iOS 7.0 or later. The battery is supposed to last for two years, assuming you might use the HISY 100 times a day. The HISY is also a small, discreet (perhaps easy to lose) device that does a pretty good job of pairing with the pretty and clean Apple aesthetic. It's $24.99 and available on the company's website: www.hisypix.com.

I'll keep experimenting with my HISY. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (marylouises) to see where it leads.

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She brainstorms ideas for this design column with other design-minded Milwaukeeans on Pinterest.

About Mary Louise Schumacher

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She writes about culture, design, the urban landscape and Milwaukee's creative community. Art City is her award-winning cultural page and a community of more than 20 contributing writers and artists. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.